The Affordable Care Act established the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program to incentivize hospitals to reduce HACs. Starting in 2014, the worst performing hospitals were docked 1 percent of Medicare payments for the year. For larger hospitals, losses could exceed $1 million, according to a Kaiser Health News report.

Many of the 27 Michigan hospitals penalized are in or near Detroit and Flint, including McLaren in Flint and several Beaumont hospitals. The University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor also made the list.

Locally, the 49-bed MidMichigan Medical Center-Clare made the list. The hospital anticipates about $46,000 in Medicare payment cuts for 2017.

“MidMichigan Medical Center-Clare was one of nearly 800 hospitals in the nation listed in this report that cites data from 2014,” Millie Jezior, the hospital’s public relations manager, said in an email.

Jezior said the Clare site has not had any hospital-acquired conditions since July 2014.

“Moreover, most recently, MidMichigan Medical Center-Clare earned a ‘B’ in patient safety from The Leapfrog Group for the Fall 2016 Hospital Safety Score. The Hospital Safety Score is the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog,” Jezior said.

Still, reducing the rate of hospital-acquired conditions is a priority for the staff and health care providers at the Clare hospital, according to Jezior. Fifteen-minute daily safety briefings at 9:30 a.m. aim to improve communication and safety. The hospital also conducts “safety rounds.”

“During safety rounds, leadership visit the different departments and ask — among other things — if employees have any safety concerns. We want to know what we’re doing right and where we need to improve. Our goal is have the problem fixed by the next department visit,” she said, adding many issues have been identified and resolved as a result.

“The Medical Center has benefited from adopting best practices from other health care organizations and from other industries,” Jezior continued. “Something as simple as a pre-surgery checklist can and has improved safety performance. In the last few years the approach has changed. When you put quality and safety first, everything else will follow.”

“ … Hospital-acquired infections kill about 10 percent of those afflicted, according to the Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Leah Binder, president and CEO of the nonprofit and hospital transparency advocate The Leapfrog Group, said in June 2015.

The recent report from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services’ aims to hold hospitals accountable for infections and the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs.

However, Michigan hospitals are faring worse, according to the Economic Alliance for Michigan, a nonprofit of companies and unions that aims to improve business and jobs in the state. EAM said in a news release it was concerned because the 27 state hospitals with high rates of hospital-acquired conditions is up from 24 the year before.

“Medicare is having a dramatic impact on decreasing medical errors,” said Bret Jackson, president of EAM. “However, there is more work to be done. Thousands of Michigan residents each year are the victims of medical errors and we must address it.”